Ship owners: Tugboat capt. to blame for tanker crash into bridge

PORTSMOUTH — Before the Portuguese tanker MV Harbour Feature struck and damaged the Sarah Mildred Long Bridge on April 1, it was under the control of a tugboat pilot who "stipulated the precise number and arrangement of the mooring lines," according to attorneys for the tanker owners.

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By Elizabeth Dinan

seacoastonline.com

By Elizabeth Dinan

Posted Jun. 11, 2013 at 2:00 AM

By Elizabeth Dinan

Posted Jun. 11, 2013 at 2:00 AM

» Social News

PORTSMOUTH — Before the Portuguese tanker MV Harbour Feature struck and damaged the Sarah Mildred Long Bridge on April 1, it was under the control of a tugboat pilot who "stipulated the precise number and arrangement of the mooring lines," according to attorneys for the tanker owners.

TB Marine Shipmanagement GmbH & Co., owners of the Harbour Feature, was required by state law to allow the Pease Development Authority's tugboat captain to take charge of the vessel to "direct all of her movements within Portsmouth Harbour," the ship owners allege in court documents. Therefore, the tanker owners say, any negligence that caused the ship to break from the pier lies with the PDA, which is responsible for hiring the tugboat pilot.

Those allegations are included in a discovery plan filed with the U.S. District Court of New Hampshire, along with counter arguments from the states of Maine and New Hampshire, which are suing the owners of the Harbour Feature for $2.4 million in damages. The two states filed suit in April, claiming the tanker's crew "negligently tended her lines, allowing the vessel to come free from her berth," before the ship drifted sideways and crashed broadside into the bridge.

The states allege the ship's crew failed to properly secure the vessel, "resulting in the parting of her mooring lines and allowing the vessel to drift away from her berth."

In the discovery plan, the states also point to maritime law, which states that when a vessel strikes a stationary object, the vessel is at fault. Whether that presumption of negligence is applicable in this case is one of several questions of law to be decided by the court, according to the discovery plan.

The state of New Hampshire is claiming that even if the owners of the Harbour Feature can prove the tugboat captain was negligent, the PDA is an agent of the state and is therefore immune from liability under state and federal laws.

The Harbour Feature owners contend the ship was in good condition and its crew acted with "due care and good seamanship" when the tugboat captain boarded the tanker and took it through the bridge to the state pier. The tugboat captain, and agents of the state pier, determined which way and how the tanker would dock and the tugboat captain "drafted the mooring plan," the tanker owners allege.

A half-hour after the tugboat captain left the Harbour Feature, the tanker broke from the moorings under a flooding tide and strong current, the ship owners allege. The vessel's "master" then used a bow thruster and anchors to set the ship up broadside against the bridge at "a low drifting speed, thereby causing very little damage to the bridge under the circumstances and no personal injury," the ship owners allege.

The state owns the pier and its PDA agents failed to warn the Harbour Feature's crew of "unsafe conditions," the ship owners allege.

"PDA should have warned of this hazard and advised the vessel to use extra lines or take extra care when mooring," the ship owners claim.

"Under New Hampshire statutory law, the PDA requires vessels like the MV Harbour Feature to hire pilots, and decides who may act as a pilot in the Port of Portsmouth, how many pilots there will be and how much a pilot will charge," the tanker owners allege.

Court records indicate the cost to repair the bridge to date has been $1.5 million, while the states also seek damages for economic loss when the bridge was closed for repairs. The Harbour Feature owners claim the tanker incurred $1.5 million in damage and the cost "likely will be higher when all repairs are completed."

Other questions of law to be considered by the court are as follows, according to the discovery plan:

Whether the state, through the PDA, is negligent because of acts of tugboat Capt. Chris Holt.

Whether the state, through the PDA, is negligent as wharf owner and operator.

Whether the states are immune from claims for "set-off" costs related to damage to the tanker.

Whether repairs to the bridge since the incident constitute a betterment for which the tanker company should not pay.

Whether Maine and New Hampshire can recover economic losses under maritime law.

Whether alleged economic losses can be recovered against a $4.2 million bond the Harbour Feature posted to be allowed to leave port after the incident.

According to court records, a jury trial has been requested and a trial would commence in May 2015. Court records also indicate a settlement agreement is a possibility.